Immigrations

I want to weigh in very briefly on the immigration issue. I just hope that terrorist orginizations do not switch and try to start recruting hispanics. You talk about global warming. With the millions of undocumented, illegal, aliens, America would quickly slide into oblivion. I say let them work their way to being registered and legal or rope them up and send them back. No matter how hard they work, illegal status is illegal staus no matter how you look at it. I can't believe that thousands of illegal aliens had the nerve to protest in California and then on top of it they waved their Mexican flags. I have two words... Adios, Amigos!!

Allergies Already

All day I have been in the cleaning mood, so I thought I best do some cleaning while the urge was present. It all started at the church. We just purchased a new copier/printer and the guy was delivering today. I got over there a little early to clear the way for him. The next thing you know, I was doing some major "house cleaning". When I came home, we ate supper and then I decided to hit the basement. Yuk!!! I worked downstairs for about an hour and I felt rather happy about the success that could be seen. I am now upstairs and my allergies are raging. Our basement has seen many floods and damp just about 24/7. So between the dampness and mold, it hit me good. Exciting.

Gas Pills 2

I was informed recentley that I never did explain what I really meant by my last blog, for which I am extremely embarassed because the reason for my posting this information was to really explain what I meant. The reason I was embarassed in my message was because the "gas pills" were not for what it sounds like they are for. They are small pills that you put in your gas tank and it is supposed to give you better gas milage.

Gas Pills

This past Sunday I had one of those embarassing moments (a couple actually). I was trying to illustrate the point that it is important to get behind what you believe because it will help you be more effective when you try to "sell it" to those in need. My illustration was about a man who recently was trying to sell someone "gas pills". I went on to say that the person who was supposed to buy these pills asked the seller if they really worked. The seller said he didn't know, because he really hadn't had time to try them out himself. By this time, I could tell by the looks on the faces in the congregation, my illustration was missing the mark. Of course, the smiles, smirks, and surpressed laughter made me keenly aware that I should have used a different term then "gas pills". Oh, well, maybe I should start selling them because after church different individuals asked if they could buy some for their better-halves:)

Music - Part 2

I am writing in response to a comment left on one of my post. To read, check comments under UBC Choir. Since I have the faintest clue who the author of that response was, I feel I have a little freedom to respond, even more so since it is my blog;) I would agree with the author on some aspects, maybe one, but disagree on others. I agree fully that some songs are overused simply because they are easy to sing and you can sing them without any practice at all. With that I agree. I think many time we see the lack of professionalism in our special singing due to this mindset. I greatly disagree with the statement that , "southern gospel has dumbed down our worship". It is clearly evident that the author is a fan of "classical" style music, and I, me, Matt Ellison, can't stand it. I prefer the "southern gospel" style. One of my favorite choirs is the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. For the most part I like their style, but occasionally they put in their a song that in very unfamiliar, but worshipful, and I grow to like it just as well as the gospel style songs. I am not against that. What I was meaning in my previous post was, I have set in services where the choir sang 80 - 90 percent songs that were unfamiliar to everyone in the congregation. The people left "unfulfilled" in their spirit. To me, that is the purpose to come to church, to worship and be touched. No I have not attended seminary for music and I may not be as educated in music as this author, but I do still have a strong opinion. By the way, I didn't realize Bach was one of our godly fore-fathers. I understand he was involved in many things that we as Christians do not accept. God may still have used some of his music, but on the other hand, He Touched Me, by Bill Gaither has been used just as greatly.

UBC Choir

We were privileged to have the Union Bible College Select Choir at our church yesterday morning. They were awsome. That was definetly the best choir that I have heard in a long time. Then again, I have heard that many recently. Their sound was beautiful. They had a 9 piece orchastra that consisted on a cello, 2 violins, 2 flutes, a trumpet, a french horn, a saxaphone, and kettle drums. The thing that stuck out to me was that they sang songs that people knew for the most part. Songs like, "When He was on the cross, I was on His mind" and "The Lighthouse" etc. I am convinced that a choir service is much better recieved by a congregation where the songs that are sung are familiar to those listening. There may be a select few in our congregations that like the "high-flutin'" songs that sound like Bach's 5,6,7 movements, but on the whole those types of songs do not connect with the people. When I come to a church service I want to worship God and I worship God by connecting with the songs. I don't come to church for a concert and to see what level of songs the choir is capable of singing. So much for my ramblings. These thoughts are just deep rooted beliefs that I felt were confirmed yesterday morning, not only to myself, but also to the 200 people who were setting in the congregation.

Is Hillary a threat in 2008?

Recently I was in an interesting discussion. The matter at hand was, "Is Hillary Clinton a threat in the 2008 elections?" As you may know, posted on Jon Plank's blog, the results of this discussion are laid bare. You will notice that I alone said no, she will not even make the primary. I have many reasons for my decision and I will not be swayed on my thoughts. First off, I don't think there are as many people that like her as the media would like you to believe. I think it is all a bunch of hyped-up coverage. Secondly, I do not think that America as a whole is ready for a woman president, even if her name is Hillary Clinton. In my humble opinion, a woman president will not be threat until at least 2016. But, Hollywood is helping us prepare for it with a popular TV program called Commander in Chief. It is about a woman who is Vice-President but becomes President because the President dies. This show apparently has been on the rise in popularity. Yes, with propaganda like this I believe we will see a woman president some day, but it will not be a major threat until 2016, in my opinion!!!

Praying Son

Well it has been a while since I was here last as you all know, especially if you you read Jon Plank's blog. (Thanks Jon for reminding me and everyone else)!!!!! Justin has become an avid pray-er at our family feedings. He doesn't think anyone else's prayers are sufficient. He does a good job at it. But now his prayers are expanding. Last Wednesday I started getting sick with the dreaded flu. By Thursday I had it bad. Now my wife calls me a wuss, but only I know the pain I was in and it was bad. I wanted to put the "sick curse" on her but being the nice guy that I am, I refrained. I didn't have too. It wasn't long until she was feeling ucky too. So here we are both with this terrible flu. I am proud to say that the first knock-down-drag-out fight we ever had in our 6 years of marriage was this week as we fought over the toilet! (Don't tell my wife I exposed such a truth)!
As we were both in such pain, I thought it would be good to pray and ask God to send one of us, if not both, some relief so taking care of the kids would be a little easier. Well, Justin heard us praying and now every-so-often he comes into where ever we are and makes us stop what we are doing so he can again pray for mommy and daddy. God did hear his prayer and sent us relief in the form of a mother-in-law. God does work in mysterious ways. It wasn't the exact relief I was looking for, but she sure was a help. On a serious note, it was neat to show Justin that mommy and daddy were feeling better and when he asked the famous "why" we were able to say because Jesus heard your prayers. Hopefully that is a lesson he will grasp and hold on to for the rest of his life.

Valentine's Day at the Ellison's

This Valentine's Day was unique. It all started Monday with plans. We had were trying to decide where we were going to eat to celebrate Valentine's Day. We had to celebrate on Monday because our church revival started the next day. As plans were being made Justin woke up......sick. So we went nowhere. The next day we ordered hogies from OIP and finished getting ready for revival. The best I could do was order a dozen red and white roses for my sweetheart and take a raincheck on dinner. When kids come along, nothing is set in stone any longer.

Excuse me young lady...

I was in the kitchen passing baseball with Justin while Vonnie was putting away some groceries. Vonnie happened to stand in front of Justin as he was about to throw the ball. That is when he said, "Excuse me young lady, I trying to pass baseball". Yesterday Don Hallenbeck, Justin and I had to run to Allen's True Value Hardware. As we were leaving, an older lady was sitting at the door trying to sell carnations for Valentine's Day. I told her I wasn't interested so she tried to sell Justin one. He said no and as he walked pasted her he continued to say, "You behave yoursef now, you hear." This kid runs his mouth way to much. He reminds me so much of his mother. Recently we were at a store and we were ready to check out but there was no cashier. A lady saw we were ready so she came to the register. Problem was, she was a midget and Justin recognized it and blurted out, "Look mom, she is a short one". Of course, at that time I started looking at other merchandise and gave Vonnie a look of scorn that would say, "Lady, I can't believe your child would say such a thing". Kids. Aren't they exciting?!?!

Sound & Spirit Christian Music Club

Recently I signed up with one of those music clubs. I got to pick seven free CD's now, pay for one later, then I recieve four more free with no more obligation after that. It's pretty cool. They have a pretty good selection of music. My first seven free CD's consisted of Philip, Craig & Dean's "The Worship Collection", The Crabb Family's "Live at Brooklyn Tabernacle", The Crabb Family's "Driven", The Brooklyn Tabernacle's "I Am Amazed...Live", Alvin Slaughter's "The Faith Life", Top Ten Southern Gospel Songs of 2005, and Mike Bowling's "Where I Stand". Other than a couple goofy songs, I was pleasantly suprised!

Youth Convention '06

In case you haven't noticed, I have been away from my computer the past few days. Reason being, I was busy. This past week we were in the hospital almost everyday for an average of 5-6 hours each day. Then we found ourselves at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Convention for the last 4-5 hours of our day. But today we found ourselves back at 2268 State Route 44. It was a very tiring week but it was a blast. The convention this year was great. God showed Himself every night and we are grateful for it. There were young people who found help, answered calls to ministry and rededicated their lives to Christ. It was truly and honor and a privilege to be part of this convention. One of the exciting things about convention was the privilege to work with some of my best friends. Eric Kuhns, Doug Rine, Aaron McCarty, Dwight Rine, Lucas Shrout and the James Plank family. They're were many times that I just sat there on the platform and thought to myself, thank you God for allowing me this awesome privilege. There were many times of laughter, but what a joy to join together and witness victories around the alter and join together in the battle to help our young people find God.

XM Is Here To Stay!!

I recieved my XM2GO Satillite Radio today. Yep 'er, it arrived safe and sound to the top of my mail box. Now I realize that you do not need a college degree to deliver mail, but it seems that common sense should be a requirement! I have been expecting my radio for the past couple of days, so I had been on the lookout for it. Today as I came home from the church I saw something big ON THE TOP, did I tell you, ON THE TOP of my mailbox!!! Eighteen wheelers and log trucks frequently cruise by our house at high rates of speed which could have easily shaken my mail to the ground/road. Hello! I am sure what she was thinking went something like this, "Let's see. It is the middle of winter. The weather is unpredictable. It could rain. It could snow. Winds could reach 30 - 40 miles per hour (which it seems all three have occured in recent days) so I guess the best place to put this man's mail is right smack dap on the top of his mail box. Just in case, I will raise the flag to give it something to lean on." The only way I can excuse such madness is, SHE'S A WOMAN!!!!!!!!!

A 2 Cent Annoyance

One of the great annoyances in my life the past few days has been the US Postal Service's grand idea to raise the price of stamps, AGAIN! The local postmaster says another raise is likely in 2007. After I recovered from my great outrage of such things, I realized I now have a stack of stamps that are useless, unless you go by a stack of two cent stamps. I know life will go on and the mail must still go through, but do they really have to try to make a yearly effort to frustrate the stew out of me?!?!

You Sold Me On It

This past week we recieved our credit card bill. On it was two charges that we did not make. The funny thing is, they were not for purchases at Boscov's, Walmart, or Cooley's furniture. They were for, get this, Fraud Protection Plan and Payment Protection. When I called about these charges, it was admitted by the card company that I had not signed up for these. Indeed, they had made a mistake. One was a charge of $14.00 and the other was for $68.00. The very thing I supposedly was paying them for obviously does not work properly because even with such great protection, I was still charged. Of course, they had the nerve to ask me if would like to go ahead and sign up. I felt like saying, "Sure, can I have a lifetime membership? I'm sold on it."

New Kicks

I have officially used the last of my Christmas money. I was in desperate need of some new tennis shoes. When it comes to tennis shoes, I hate to spend alot of money. So when I walked into Footlocker and found these $75.00 shoes on sale for $19.99 there was just no question on to where I would make my purchase that day. Vonnie looked at them and said, "I can see why they were on sale for $19.99." None-the-less, I like 'em.

Sirius, No More!

Saturday, January 21, I officially washed my hands of Sirius Satelllite Radio. I sold my "gear" to a man in Selinsgrove, PA. I am really glad I sold it, because the night before I bought this XM Radio off of EBay. I bought the MyFi system which is the first satellite radio to have a built in FM antanea for portable use. I am really excited. I should recieve it by mid-week. Now I just need to subscride. All donations may be sent to...oops! I now have FOXNEWS back, (which is the real reason I left Sirius). I'll keep you updated on the progress of my new machine.

Justin's Television Debut

The Pennsylvania Farm Show is an exciting thing around the Ellison household. Especially for Justin. All year long he continually asks, "Is the Farm Show coming?" Finally it arrived. So with his cowboy hat and boots we made our way to Saturday's High School Rodeo. We had seats right at the bull shoots about two rows up. Justin was able to see all the action. He kept going down and talking to the cowboy and cowgirls. He watched them spit so he gave it a try. It wasn't long until a camera man for PCN was at the shoots. He saw Justin mimmicking the cowboys and therefore began filming him. This happened twice and later that evening he was interviewed. Another thing that Justin likes to do at home is to preach. So with his early start in television and his excitement in preaching, he just very well may be the next Billy Graham, the well-known televangelist. I sure hope not! None-the-less, the Farm show has come and gone, and all we see now is Justin swinging his rope, catching his invisible cows and riding his bull, which is usually on my back.

Old Friends

It is amazing to find out who really reads your blog. Since I have started my great adventure in cyberspace, I have recieved emails from numbers of old friends that I hadn't heard from for awhile. Jon Earls, Joel Byers, and Sally Sebo recently replied to my blog. Hey guys, (and gals-Jon & Sally:) Good to hear from you. Keep in touch.

We're Home

The past few days have been a little different for the Ellison's. Vonnie's mother had surgery on January 6. Since then Vonnie has been staying in Penns Creek with her. Valerie came to stay with Vonnie for a week after each of our children so it has been a pleasure trying to repay her. But since I still had responsibilities at the church I have been running here and there. Today, we are staying at 2268 State Route 44, Allenwood, PA for the first time as a family since Jan. 6. I must say, it sure is nice having them all back.